Training 2025 Off-Season & Preseason reports and discussion

[matey]

Great write-up.

Did Mark say anything about Kobe joining as a F/S?

He’s been given an opportunity to train at the Hawks is very happy for his son to be around the club/players to see what it takes to play AFL and a high performance environment. Like with all F/S that show potential will play next season and then hopefully go into the draft.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Who were they competing against?

Anyone and everyone.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Wonder where the coaches have Ramsden, bit of a forgotten man but just keeps building. Looks in unreal condition for a huge year, fingers crossed

He’s in very good nick at the moment, and has excellent skills for a big man

 

[Judd2Sewell]

What is the current training schedule please?

M/W/F?

 

[Newmo89]

What is the current training schedule please?

M/W/F?

Players had their last session today and are now on break until early into the new year. Schedule has been Monday and Thursday

 

[Newmo89]

Last training session in the books for 2024 today.

No shows: Punky
Rehab group: Lewis, Blanck
Ginnivan did some running and left the track early. Butler and Amon did repeated sprints before Butsy left the track.
Calsher came down late and watched on as the team trained.
Massimo gingerly came down the stairs, did a light run on the boundary line for about 25 m and spoke to the medico. He had appendix surgery over the weekend and will be on light duties for another week or two.
Frosty did some running and left the track. He is in a conditioning phase now and is hopeful to be ready to join the main group after the Christmas break.

Skills were quite high all day which was excellent to see. The voice and the connection of the group is definitely up and that shows that they're switched on. Did some match simulation - 16 on 16. A few things that stood out:
Newcombe was telling Hustwaite where to stand at a ruck contest, Huss was a tad slow and the ball went where Jai predicted. His quick hands in close were great and he hit a beautiful sizzling kick off one step
Barrass and Battle looked excellent down back and will be a nightmare for opposition teams to combat. Barrass' reading of the ball is something else and he hit a beautiful 45m pass to Day who was free in the middle and he was off.
Serong started in defence and then moved forward. He will do a bit at both ends in 2025.
CJ was so clean with his disposal and his ability to pick the ball up at speed. He laid a huge tackle on Scaife who tried to shrug him off inside forward 50.
Watson is like a jack in a box - just springs into everything he does.

They finished up with a solid running block which included 180 metre timed sprints and a 90 second time trial. The fitness of the players is just unbelievable.

 

[bigmaxi]

Last training session in the books for 2024 today.

No shows: Punky
Rehab group: Lewis, Blanck
Ginnivan did some running and left the track early. Butler and Amon did repeated sprints before Butsy left the track.
Calsher came down late and watched on as the team trained.
Massimo gingerly came down the stairs, did a light run on the boundary line for about 25 m and spoke to the medico. He had appendix surgery over the weekend and will be on light duties for another week or two.
Frosty did some running and left the track. He is in a conditioning phase now and is hopeful to be ready to join the main group after the Christmas break.

Skills were quite high all day which was excellent to see. The voice and the connection of the group is definitely up and that shows that they're switched on. Did some match simulation - 16 on 16. A few things that stood out:
Newcombe was telling Hustwaite where to stand at a ruck contest, Huss was a tad slow and the ball went where Jai predicted. His quick hands in close were great and he hit a beautiful sizzling kick off one step
Barrass and Battle looked excellent down back and will be a nightmare for opposition teams to combat. Barrass' reading of the ball is something else and he hit a beautiful 45m pass to Day who was free in the middle and he was off.
Serong started in defence and then moved forward. He will do a bit at both ends in 2025.
CJ was so clean with his disposal and his ability to pick the ball up at speed. He laid a huge tackle on Scaife who tried to shrug him off inside forward 50.
Watson is like a jack in a box - just springs into everything he does.

They finished up with a solid running block which included 180 metre timed sprints and a 90 second time trial. The fitness of the players is just unbelievable.

Thanks so much Newmo89, the B1 and B2 show will be something to behold next season, the backline was really solid this year. Next year will be bloody Fort Knox! Have a good Xmas mate.

 

[grumbleguts]

Butler and Amon did repeated sprints before Butsy left the track.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your report. (we queenslanders rarely get to see these sessions. But the line in the above quote filled me with so much happiness. So great to see Butler with two functioning legs again.

 

[burger09]

Last training session in the books for 2024 today.

No shows: Punky
Rehab group: Lewis, Blanck
Ginnivan did some running and left the track early. Butler and Amon did repeated sprints before Butsy left the track.
Calsher came down late and watched on as the team trained.
Massimo gingerly came down the stairs, did a light run on the boundary line for about 25 m and spoke to the medico. He had appendix surgery over the weekend and will be on light duties for another week or two.
Frosty did some running and left the track. He is in a conditioning phase now and is hopeful to be ready to join the main group after the Christmas break.

Skills were quite high all day which was excellent to see. The voice and the connection of the group is definitely up and that shows that they're switched on. Did some match simulation - 16 on 16. A few things that stood out:
Newcombe was telling Hustwaite where to stand at a ruck contest, Huss was a tad slow and the ball went where Jai predicted. His quick hands in close were great and he hit a beautiful sizzling kick off one step
Barrass and Battle looked excellent down back and will be a nightmare for opposition teams to combat. Barrass' reading of the ball is something else and he hit a beautiful 45m pass to Day who was free in the middle and he was off.
Serong started in defence and then moved forward. He will do a bit at both ends in 2025.
CJ was so clean with his disposal and his ability to pick the ball up at speed. He laid a huge tackle on Scaife who tried to shrug him off inside forward 50.
Watson is like a jack in a box - just springs into everything he does.

They finished up with a solid running block which included 180 metre timed sprints and a 90 second time trial. The fitness of the players is just unbelievable.

How is Calsher going?

How much has he trained to this point?

 

[Newmo89]

How is Calsher going?

How much has he trained to this point?

Calsher has had a light week on the track this week but has been in most of the training sessions. His endurance and running capacity has improved and he has certainly bulked up a bit as well. Will be exciting to watch post Christmas break.

 

[KermitJagger]

Last training session in the books for 2024 today.

No shows: Punky
Rehab group: Lewis, Blanck
Ginnivan did some running and left the track early. Butler and Amon did repeated sprints before Butsy left the track.
Calsher came down late and watched on as the team trained.
Massimo gingerly came down the stairs, did a light run on the boundary line for about 25 m and spoke to the medico. He had appendix surgery over the weekend and will be on light duties for another week or two.
Frosty did some running and left the track. He is in a conditioning phase now and is hopeful to be ready to join the main group after the Christmas break.

Skills were quite high all day which was excellent to see. The voice and the connection of the group is definitely up and that shows that they're switched on. Did some match simulation - 16 on 16. A few things that stood out:
Newcombe was telling Hustwaite where to stand at a ruck contest, Huss was a tad slow and the ball went where Jai predicted. His quick hands in close were great and he hit a beautiful sizzling kick off one step
Barrass and Battle looked excellent down back and will be a nightmare for opposition teams to combat. Barrass' reading of the ball is something else and he hit a beautiful 45m pass to Day who was free in the middle and he was off.
Serong started in defence and then moved forward. He will do a bit at both ends in 2025.
CJ was so clean with his disposal and his ability to pick the ball up at speed. He laid a huge tackle on Scaife who tried to shrug him off inside forward 50.
Watson is like a jack in a box - just springs into everything he does.

They finished up with a solid running block which included 180 metre timed sprints and a 90 second time trial. The fitness of the players is just unbelievable.

Really encouraging to see skills are going well this early in the off season, normally reports are quite the opposite! Great review.

Really exciting time to be a Hawk. Barring tragedy it's very hard to see how we regress but potential improvements everywhere.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Gibson was a far better player than Lake during the threepeat anyway. The fact Lake won a Norm Smith and his tenure at Hawthorn matched perfectly with the three premierships I think skews the perception somewhat.

People tend to forget that Lake, as good as he was and could be, did spend a lot of time out injured and in the red vest, which sometimes worked in our favour given his propensity to give away braindead frees and audition for the MRP.

Gibson 2/3 PCMs in those threepeat years and probably could have gone 3/3 if it weren't for missing 8 games with injury in the middle of 2014. A highly underrated star that should be spoken about more tbh.

I have Gibbo up there with Sicily as the ultimate two way defensive / offensive mid sized backman. Those two are the only back men I've ever seen who are/were able to nullify the oppositions key forward whilst also getting 25+ possessions and 15 marks.

Lake was pretty good for us though, brain fades and all. Brian had the best set of hands I think I've ever seen when it came to marking a high pack ball.

He's main job was his ability to nullify the monsters which is why we got him, it released Schoey up the ground to play a role more suited for him. He wasn't absolutely elite stopping a lead but he's ability to read the play ahead of him and body positioning IMO was unrivalled across his career. The one bloke who stood up to Hawkins while he was with us.

 

[The hands of stone]

Honestly the best way to guarantee against injury is to train the entire range. AFL players don't typically use the entire range but what happens when they do and there's a relative weakness? Unconditioned, or underconditioned, tendons and ligaments tend to go pop. If the concern is fatigue, it's offset by lower weights lifted - if still an issue just reduce volume or frequency.

The other thing I'd say is that how often do they put loaded barbells on their shoulders or lift loaded barbells off the ground in game? Never. Best thing to do is separate it entirely. You train the sport by training the sport, and you get strong by doing what works in the gym - and if you want to see the most explosive athletes in the gym you'd look at either Olympic lifters or anyone whose weight sessions would resemble an Olympic lifters e.g., shot putters, throwers, sprinters.

It's no jab against Burge, more against the industry as it relates to pro sports as a whole. They all tend to waste a bit of time in my experience.

S&C and high performance is quite the rabbit hole to go down , plenty of differing opinions and the like .
If the players perform , are fit and don't get soft tissue injuries you are on a winner.

Given that the evidence and research suggest no skill transference from activity to activity , stuff like that above is probably more a conditioning thing maybe even giving some variety to training .
If technique is good and no injury , great.

It's like a baseballer using a heavier bat in training to be more 'dynamic' when they switch to standard. You don't get the skill transfer over.
We did similar in the program I was on years ago and even then as a young fella it just didn't make sense .

Anyway as a team we look fit and strong and are improving so whatever Burge is doing he can keep doing it

 

[Newmo89]

Some photos from yesterday's last training session of 2024.

 

[number23]

He's main job was his ability to nullify the monsters which is why we got him, it released Schoey up the ground to play a role more suited for him. He wasn't absolutely elite stopping a lead but he's ability to read the play ahead of him and body positioning IMO was unrivalled across his career. The one bloke who stood up to Hawkins while he was with us.

The Great Lake OWNED Porkins.

 

[matey]

Some photos from yesterday's last training session of 2024.View attachment 2190315View attachment 2190316View attachment 2190317View attachment 2190319

Hope the gazebo is tied down

 

[peetoo]

Good to Hear Ward / MacKenzie (and Huss) are having good sessions so far.

Battle / Barrass will come in and shore up our defence.

However during our Semi Final our midfield just seemed to lack that class running through it. Day will fix this however I feel we need at least one of Ward / MacKenzie to turn into an A grader and play the role that Ashcroft plays at Brisbane

Lost both French and Day that game. Always up against it

 

[peetoo]

Just on the pre season hit outs. Doggies and pussies will be great opponents for our defence to gel against

 

[wahawk]

How is Calsher going?

Not good

 

[burger09]

Not good

???
Please elaborate.

(Just saw the news, I had a bad feeling for some unknown reason).
F@#k!

 

[Quacker5]

Stress fracture in his back

 

[I got the outside word]

Stress fracture in his back

Google says minimum 12 weeks.

 

[HedgeFund]

Who were they competing against?

A very good point well made.

Our key forward shortcomings will to an extent be addressed through the moving of one or two of the 2023 KPDs into the forward line.

Keep Frost and Barrass in the back half.

Move 2 of Battle, Weddle, Sicily and Scrimshaw up forward to help Chol / Dear.

Frankly if Dear’s back stress reaction doesn’t heal quickly, we might need 3.

That’s the best we can do this season, but it will most likely be an improvement anyhow.

 

[TONYC3163]

A very good point well made.

Our key forward shortcomings will to an extent be addressed through the moving of one or two of the 2023 KPDs into the forward line.

Keep Frost and Barrass in the back half.

Move 2 of Battle, Weddle, Sicily and Scrimshaw up forward to help Chol / Dear.

Frankly if Dear’s back stress reaction doesn’t heal quickly, we might need 3.

That’s the best we can do this season, but it will most likely be an improvement anyhow.

Yes, our new recruits allow us flexibility, you’d think at a minimum of Weddle forward with cameos from others. I’d add Hardwick to the list, Frost can cover most small forwards.

 

[Newmo89]

Shocking luck for Calsher who had come back in excellent condition after going over to Africa with his family in the off season.

While it's awful luck for Calsh, it provides opportunities for others. In January we lost Blanck, DGB and McCabe in quick succession and some thought we were gone. The brains trust sat down and made the necessary tweaks to get us to within a kick of a preliminary final.

Hardwick has been training as a forward all pre season, Gunston has come back in terrific shape and we have the luxury of possibly moving a Weddle forward. Don't forget it also gives Ramsden and Scaife a great opportunity to put their case forward.

A fascinating first month back after the Christmas break to see the thinking of the coaches.